What is Halloween? A look at Halloween traditions of the past What is Halloween and why the focus on the dead? It’s a boon to necromancers, the day when the dead are most inclined to rise up and join us in the world. Perhaps all it takes is a little pull from this side, and […]
Pagans, Heathens and Witchcraft
The old gods are still among us
IN THE STONE CIRCLES OF BRITAIN, to the holidays we celebrate without a second thought, the gods of antiquity still loom large in our psyche. For those whose path takes them from the straight and narrow, the world is a magical place.
From the olden days and up through all the years
From Arcadia to the stone fields of Inisheer
Some say the Gods are just a myth
But guess who I’ve been dancing with
The great god Pan is alive
Pondering why landscapes become sacred and the mysteries of the Uffington White Horse, Uffington Castle and White Horse Hill
A month ago I stood atop a long barrow on White Horse Hill, with the grass covered chalk walls of Uffington Castle behind me, the galloping Uffington White Horse below me, and pondered a question for which there is no answer. What makes a landscape sacred? Is sacred the right word? Mystic perhaps. What makes […]
The hammer of the gods still ring out at Wayland’s Smithy, a long barrow chamber tomb nestled in a secluded grove in Oxfordshire
The chambered tombs and long barrows of Britain have long tickled the imagination, and perhaps none more so than Wayland’s Smithy. Perhaps it’s the stand of beech trees enclosing it which makes it feel more intimate, more hushed. Unlike West Kennet Long Barrow near Avebury, sitting exposed to the wind and the rain, high on […]
On pagan sexuality, getting laid in the seventies, the great god Pan, the Marquis de Sade and the mating habits of goats
Top: Statue of Pan, The Eagles Nest, Northport, Long Island Your body is the church where Nature asks to be reverenced. Marquis de Sade I credit my parents with instilling in me a love for pagan sexuality. Not intentionally – they didn’t advocate any kind of sex. It’s something that was only mentioned a couple […]
True witch legends from southern Illinois … giving Carmi’s Cato the witch the last laugh on her neighbors, and an insight into folklore and history
Top: Wooden structure in the woods where the legend points to that Cato might have lived. Dating from much later than Cato’s time, this building was likely used for livestock, but it does sit on a mound which could have once been the site of a house. + + + There’s a difference between folklore […]
Christmas Card from Orpheus to Eurydice (last known address, Hades)
Top: Orpheus in Hades, Pierre Amedee Marcel Beronneau Editor’s note: This is my website, so I get to do what I want. Occasionally I write fiction, though this was going to be a nice scholarly article on Orpheus and Eurydice. Instead I got to wondering what happened to Eurydice afterwards? Too lazy to look it […]
Namaste this … a warning before embracing the gods within, for divinity has a dark side
Top: Gilded head of a Minerva, found in Bath, Somerset. Originally atop a statue larger than life, she would have looked out from her temple next to a sacred spring onto the altar where sacrifices were made in her name. That the gods require living sacrifice should be a warning to us all, that not all […]
On paganism and the naming of gods … “Will the real god please stand up?”
Top: Jan Van Eyck, The Arnolfini Wedding Today I found myself listless, without direction. My sails were up, but there was no wind. The albatross was still around my neck. It has begun to stink. Then someone mentioned starting a religion and I thought, “I’m game for that.” My goals in life have been achieved, […]
Eclipse: Seeing the future during an eclipse in a southern Illinois graveyard where the burials stretch back almost 2,000 years
Top: The 2017 North American Eclipse viewed from Marshall Ferry Cemetery, Rising Sun, Illinois A person quite dear to me once said that Breathe, the first song on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon always brought me to mind. “Breathe, breathe in the air. Don’t be afraid to care …” Music is more than […]
For the love of witches
MY FIRST MEMORY OF THE WORD WITCH happened when I was young, maybe five or six, though it’s likely I’d heard of witches in fairy tales before that. _______ Top: The Cove at Avebury, the oldest feature of that stone circle, where they honored their dead _______ We were riding through the country at night, […]
Is it Halloween or Samhain? What’s the real difference and when is it?
Top: Crescent moon over a male stone of West Kennet Avenue, Avebury I’ve written about this before I believe. Twice even. I get these questions every year about this time, so here’s how I see it. The historical record is in this case, a record of people looking at the historical record and not finding […]
From the witch’s garden, Meadowsweet, a love potion as well as a balm for aching hearts
A look at Meadowsweet, a wildflower traditionally thought of as an omen of love. But with any love potion, it works best when love is already present from the start.
